Golf club carrying case with swingable leg and handle assembly



July 15, 1969 E. L. KUZMA 3,455,358

GOLF CLUB CARRYING CASE WITH SWINGABLE LEG AND HANDLE ASSEMBLY Filed Jan. 10, 1968 AW! 72: Ina/4gp 1. 191 21 Arron/v United States Patent 3,455,358 GOLF CLUB CARRYING CASE WITH SWINGABLE LEG AND HANDLE ASSEMBLY Edward L. Kuzma, 12701 Budlong Ave., Los Angeles, Calif. 90044 Filed Jan. 10, 1968, Ser. No. 696,845 Int. Cl. A63b 55/04, 555/00 US Cl. 150-15 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The golf club carrying case is rigid and acts as one leg of a tripod for supporting the case with its open end above the ground directed angularly upward. The other two legs are swingably mounted with respect to the case. They are pivoted through brackets mounted on the sides of the case so that the pivot pins through the brackets are radial of the case axis and the brackets act as limiting stops when the legs are swung to either of the limiting positions. Furthermore, the legs are tubular and the carrying handle for the case is telescopically mounted into the tubular legs so that, when carried, the legs are automatically folded into carrying position. Furthermore, detents in the brackets detent the legs in their limiting positions. The case preferably carries an open topped ball carrier on a side thereof, the open topped ball carrier having detents adjacent the top to prevent inadvertent loss of balls. As an alternative construction, the case contains a plurality of tubes, each tube intended to carry one golf club, the tubes extending from top to bottom of the case and providing separate receptacles for the clubs throughout the entire club handle length.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention is directed to a golf club carrying case which has a swingable leg and handle assembly which is pivotally mounted on the case and detented into its end positions.

The game of golf requires the transportation of a plurality of clubs of different characteristics over great distances. With the development of the game, and the increase in complement of clubs, golf bags were provided to carry the clubs and additional balls, and these golf bags became larger and heavier with passage of time. Boys were hired to carry the clubs, and with the present increase of standard of living in the United States, insufficient boys were available for this task so that the transportation of the clubs again became the responsibility of the golfer. This, plus the distances covered in a game of golf, led to the introduction and wide-spread use of the golf cart. However, golf carts cannot go where the boys had gone in carrying the clubs for it is detrimetal to the greens to drive the golf carts 0n the sensitive grass thereof, and occasionally the position from which the ball must be played is too rough for the golf cart to enter. Again, the golfer must carry his own clubs. One of the problems in having the golfer carry his own clubs is that when he wants to play the ball, he must lay the club carrying case down. This unfortunately has the effect of getting the clubs dirty and making it difficult to extract a club from the case. In addition, the advent of the par-three golf course resulted in a game where the cost of a golf cart is not warranted by the small number of clubs being carried.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In summary, this invention is directed to a golf club carrying case with a swingable leg and handle assembly, particularly arranged so that the legs and handles are detented with respect to the case and either of the ter- 3,455,358 Patented July 15, 1969 "ice minal positions of the legs. One of the terminal positions is the carrying position of the case, while the other is the resting position wherein the legs are extended. In this latter position, the legs of the case form a tripod for the secure support of the case with its upper end directed angularly upward for the convenient removal or replacement of golf clubs from the case. The legs are arranged on pivot pins which are angularly positioned with respect to each other so that when the legs are detented in case carrying position, they lie parallel to the case, and when the legs are swung into and are detented in the support position, they are wide spread at their feet for proper support of the case.

Furthermore, a ball carrier is positioned on the side of the case, this ball carrier has an open top so that the balls ,are easily positioned in and removed from the ball carrier through the open top. However, the sides of the ball carrier adjacent the open top are formed into inwardly projecting detents so that the balls are not subject to inadvertent loss. Furthermore, as an alternative feature, the case has a plurality of separate tubes positioned therein, extending all the way from bottom to top of the case. These tubes are of such size as to accept the separate handles of individual golf clubs and thus maintain the golf club handles from each other to prevent damage thereto.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a golf club carrying case which has a swingable leg assembly so that the case may be stood up when not being carried.

It is another object to provide the case with a combined swingable leg and handle assembly so that, when the case is picked up by the handle, the legs swing into the carrying position.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a case wherein the case supporting legs are detented in both of their supporting and carrying positions so that the legs are retained in the proper place.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a ball carrier mounted upon the side of the golf club carrying case with the ball carrier being provided with detents to prevent the balls from inadvertently falling out of the open upper end of the ball carrier.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the study of the following portion of this specification, and the claims and the attached drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the golf club carrying case with swingable leg and handle assembly of this invention showing the legs and handle assembly in the supporting position.

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view thereof.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged side elevational view thereof with parts broken away, showing the swingable leg and handle assembly in carrying position.

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of the structure as shown in FIGURE 3, showing the supporting position of the legs in dotted lines.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the figures of the drawing, the golf club carrying case with swingable leg and handle assembly is generally indicated at 10. The carrying case itself is preferably a hexagonal case tube 12 which has a closed bottom and an open top. The length of tube 12 is sufficient to accept the handles of golf clubs, virtually their full length. The diameter of tube 12 is suificient to accept a reasonable number of golf clubs. Tube 12 can either be a single tube which is completely open on the interior for accepting a plurality of golf club handles at random, or alternatively, it may carry a plurality of interior tubes 14. Interior tubes 14 are preferably cylindrical and extend for the full length of case tube 12. Furthermore, as is thus seen in FIGURE 4, there are preferably 7 of the tubes 14 arranged in hexagonal fashion, to fill case tube 12 from corner to corner. When the interior tubes 14 are provided, case tube 12 preferably has its hexagonally corners rounded to matching radii for tubes 14. Each tube 14 has a sufliciently large interior to accept the handle of one golf club. Thus, in this configuration, the handles of the golf clubs are maintained separate to prevent scratching or other damage to the golf club handles during the carrying of case 10.

Mounted upo'n acutely angularly related faces 16 and 18 of case tube 12 are pivot brackets 20 and 22, respectively. Pivot brackets 20 and 22 are formed as channels, with outwardly turned feet on the channel flanges to permit the pivot brackets to be secured to their respective sides. The preferred method of securement is by spot welding, but other convenient securement methods can be used. Pivot pins 24 and 26, respectively, pass through pivot brackets 20 and 22, and, as seen in FIGURE 4, they are preferably in the form of rivets which are riveted over within the respective faces 16 and 18 of inner tube 12.

Legs 28 and 30, respectively, have arms 32 and 34 which are integrally formed with the main, straight portion of legs 28 and 30, but are formed at an angle with respect thereto. Arms 32 and 34, respectively, extend through pivot brackets 20 and 22 and are respectively pivoted upon pivot pins 24 and 26. The angular relationship between the longer straight portions of the legs, and their bent arms, is such that when the arms engage against the flanges of the channel shaped pivot brackets in the position shown in FIGURE 3, legs 28 and 30 lie close to and parallel to the exterior of case tube 12. However, when legs 28 and 30 are swung away from the case tube to the position shown in FIGURE 1, the legs 28 and 30 extend sufliciently far away from the case tube that they act as supporting legs therefor. In this position the bent arms engage the other flanges in the pivot brackets to determine the outer limit position of the legs. While legs 28 and 30 are shorter than the case tube, as shown in FIGURE 3, they are sufficiently long to support the case tube at a convenient angle, such as shown in FIGURE 1.

In order to detent the legs 28 and 30 in both their stored position, as shown in FIGURE 3, and their extended, supporting position, as shown in FIGURE 1, pivot brackets 20 and 22 are each provided with a detent projection. The detent projections are formed by bending a portion of the web of the channels of pivot brackets 20 and 22 toward the corresponding faces '16 and 18. Detent projections 36 and 38 are shown in FIGURE 3 as retaining the legs in their stored position by engaging the arms 32 and 34. The engagement by the detent projections is resilient so that the arms can be moved past the detent projections and be detented in the opposite position. Thus, either position of the legs with respect to the case tube is stable.

Handle 40 is shaped for convenient carrying in the hand, or hooking over any convenient member for the support of the carrying case. Handle 40 has fingers 42 and 44 secured thereto. These fingers telescopically engage in the tubular arm portions 32 and 34, respectively, of legs 28 and 30. The engagement is by press fit maintaining a rigid structure. Thus, when the carrying case is picked up by handle 40, the legs automatically swing into the stored position so that the case can be conveniently carried. When support on the legs is desired the case is set with the bottom of the case tube 12 on the ground. Since legs 28 and 30 do not extend to the bottom of the case tube, they are away from the ground. In this position the handle 40 is pressed downwardly so that the arms 30 and 32 respectively snap to the other side of detents 36 and 38. Now the legs are in the extended position shown in FIGURES 1 and 2. Thereupon, the case is leaned over until the legs 28- and 30 engage the ground for proper case support.

As an additional convenience, the carrying case with leg and handle assembly 10 is provided with ball carrier 46. As is best seen in FIGURE 4, throughout its general length ball carrier 46 is of channel type construction with the ends of the channel flanges slightly directed toward each other. The spacing between the channel flanges is sufficient to accept a golf ball therebetween. However, the bottom of ball carrier 46 is closed and the ends of the channel flanges are directed somewhat toward each other to prevent the balls from escaping from between the channel flanges. Thus, the balls can only be placed into and removed from ball carrier 46 through the open top. However, the open top is provided with detent projections 48 and 50 which are directed inwardly adjacent the open top of ball carrier 46, and formed by bending a small portion of the flanges toward each other. The dimension between detent projections 48 and 50 is sufficient to prevent the golf ball from inadvertently being removed from ball carrier 46, yet the flanges are sufficiently resilient that a golf ball can be forceably pulled out of the carrier.

This invention having been described in its preferred embodiment, it is clear that it is susceptible to numerous modifications and changes within the ability of those skilled in the art without the exercise of the inventive faculty.

What is claimed is:

1. In a golf club carrying case with swingable leg and handle assembly including a case tube of suflicient length and suflicient diameter to accept the handles of a plurality of golf clubs, said case tube having an open upper end and a closed lower end, the improvement comprising:

first and second channel-shaped pivot brackets secured to said case tube adjacent its open end, said channelshaped brackets each having a web and first and second flanges, said first and second flanges being secured to said case tube;

first and second legs, said first and second legs respectively extending through said first and second brackets between the flanges thereof, said legs having closed and support terminal positions with respect to said case tube, said legs engaging said flanges of said brackets in each of said terminal positions so as to limit said legs to motion between said terminal positions.

and second pivots respectively pass through said first and second pivot brackets, said first and second legs and into said case tube so that said legs pivot on said pivot pins.

3. An improvement as stated in claim 2 wherein said case tube has an axis and said pivot pins lie in a plane substantially perpendicular to said axis, said pivot pins hakving axes which lie at an angle with respect to each ot er.

4. An improvement as stated in claim 2 wherein a handle is secured to both of said legs so that engagement of said handle moves said legs between their terminal positions.

5. An improvement as stated in claim 4 wherein said legs are hollow and first and second fingers are secured to said handle, said first and second fingers being telescopically positioned in the upper ends of said first and second legs so that said handle and said legs are rigidly secured to each other.

6. An improvement as stated in claim 2 wherein a detent is formed on each of said pivot brackets, said detents engaging said legs to resiliently detent said legs in their terminal positions.

7. An improvement as stated in claim 2 wherein said carrying case is hexagonal.

8. An improvement as stated in claim 7 wherein seven separate tubes are positioned within said hexagonal case tube so that the handles of seven diiferent golf clubs can be separately retained.

9. An improvement as stated in claim 8 wherein said seven tubes are cylindrical and said case tube has corner radii corresponding to the radii of said cylindrical tubes.

10. An improvement as stated in claim 1 wherein a :ball carrier is mounted on the side of said case, said ball carrier having an open top and a closed bottom, said ball carrier being channel shaped, with flanges of the channel directed toward each other at their outer edges so that a golf ball can be retained in the channel, resilient detent projections positioned on said channel flanges adjacent the open end of said ball carrier, said resilient projections being of such size as to resiliently restrain the removal of the balls from the open top of said golf ball carrier.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS DONALD F. NORTON, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 248-96 

